Vacuum tube voltmeter



April 0, 1954 J. D. HIRSCH ET AL VACUUM TUBE VOLTMETER Filed Dec. 6, 1951 v INVENTOR.

(/z/z/e/v 0. H/EJCA gamma 0 4. gamm BY Patented Apr. 20, 1954 UNITED S'TATES- PATENT. ossice vacuum L. Gar-man, Pleasantville, N., 3L, assignorsv to General Precision. Laboratory Incorporated, a

corporation of N ew'York.

ApplicatiomDecemberfi, 1951,,SerialNo. 260,134; a Claiins. (c1. sac-9s;-

invention pertains to voltmeters1of@thevacuum tube typeand particularly tometers for measuringlow direct-current voltages involved. in chemical measurements such; asindication i titrationvend-points and the determir-iation of hydrogen ion. concentration.

Suchavoltmeter is preferably multi-rangeand must: haveadequate linearity of the output. indicationwith varying magnitude 0t input. signaL The voltmeter should: alsa have high input im pedance,=.igood stability of sensitivity, low zerodrift, and berelatively unafiieeted; by variationsin line voltage.

Thervoltmeterof the invention has these char aeteristics and; in 1 addition is. capable of measur. ing input voltages of. either polarity. It. has contvenient provision for calibration in terms of standard. buffer. solutions Its principal characteristics however resides in thefact that it provided with a. degenerative feedback circuit which-is ivariedstos varythe-gainand thus in vary ing the gain the concomitant. change; of feedback varies the linearity of the. amplifier inversely to" the gain. This-isan advantage: inthe useofi this voltmeter for pH determination,.,because it results' in: the more important scales being.- made the most linear.

The principal: purpose on this invention ist'o provide an: improved vacuum? tube: voltmeter ,for

measuring solution electrode: potentials include mg glass" electrode. potentials;

Aidetailed: understanding of; theinventiom may 7 be secured by reference; to the: following. do script-ionandthe-accompanying;drawinginiwhiclr the single; figurei constitutes a schematic: diagram of the vacuum-tube-voltmeten circuit of the in ventioni.

Referring; now to: the single figure; arr input, signal generating deviceisindicatedat/ Hm This device may be or. any nature which: generates a low; non-varying direct-current voltage, such as; for instance a cell for-the: measurement. of hydrogeni ion concentrations Sucha; cell: em played as example and: is: here: represented schematically by a source: of voltage; 42.-

series:

with a high resistance l3, the latter being shunt ed by a condenserl4.- The-outputoi the source of voltage I zhasthe magnitude of aifraction of a voltand the internal resistance I3 may be as highasjdmmegohmsor'more, with an average value, when a glass electrode isemployed, of 250 megohms.

'l he'signalj generating device is connected to twoi'nstrument termmalsi-l 51- and terminal [5' being connected through abalaneingswitch I-1 and a resistor I 8 to the input controlgrid" I! size. such .605 m1. reduce tneefict upon a of. the first electronic. amplification. stage. The

switch l1. provided; to permit a preliminary adjustment of the instrument before. making. a.

measurement and. the resistor. [8 is provided to protect the ihst'rumentfromthe effect of unduly high; input voltage. The resistor I8 may have a value of 1.0. megohms for purpose, such a value being. so much lower than that, of the in.- put impedance of the. instrument as. to have only anegligible. effect. on. accuracy.. Terminal [6' is.

returned to. the. slider: .241 01' a. voltage divider 22.

single-ended input to a floating, grid [9,.theother grid 25 being grounded. The tube employed is the: two-section triode having;- the, type number 5692, being especially designed by the manufacturer for. precision applications. The, tube sections are medium mu triodes and are character izedby having very-low ,grid current. In addition; ithas been'discoveredthat one ot the two triode sections in this type oftube ismvariabla characterized by much; lowen grid current than the other and this:triode -section having element connectionstobasepins 4,, 5-and 6, is accordinglythesectionrfl employedior applicationof them put-signa-1.-

The other sectiommisconnected thereto in the conventional manner employing a common oath.- ode resiston 29: so that; difierentia-l or push-pull output-isw'securedc In addition to the common: cathode'resistor 29,. each tube section is providedwithan individual cathode resistor: divided: into three sections. the: resistor sections 3|, 32; and- 33 being connected im series and to the cathode 34: of tube: section 2 whilethe resistor sections 36 31 and 38, havingvv resistances equal to thoseot the corresponding resistors 3 I; 3.21 and 33;. are connectedin series and to the cathode 39 of tubesection 28. The two: anodes 1H.- and 42- of this stage: are connected through respective anode resistors 4 3. and: Miami through a voltage di of constant potential. The negativeterminal 48' thereof isconnected to the common cathode resister. '29, completing. the. anode circuits oibothtube. sections of the first..arm'alifyi'ng stage. The input control grid IBYisgrouhddl for alternating currentiby means ofia, condenser 69, of moderate 3 the amplifier of alternating voltages which may accidentally be introduced ahead of this grid by any possible means, such as by induction from 60-cycle lines.

The resistance in each tube section circuit is made fairly highly to increase the tube internal resistance and reduce the grid current. A satisfactory value for each anode resistor has been found to be megohm, with a similar value for the total cathode resistance. The stage gain is reduced to about 22 db when these resistance values are employed.

That part of the cathode circuit which is individual to each tube section produces degeneration because it is common to both the anode and the grid circuit of the particular tube section and varies in current and voltage drop with change of signal. For example, the resistors 3|, 32, 33

and 29 are or may be in the cathode-anode circuit of tube section 21, and the same resistors plus part of the voltage divider 22 are in the cathode-grid circuit. Upon change of anode current only the voltage drop across the resistors 3|,

32, and 33 varies, and it varies in such direction 7 as, through its influence on grid bias, to oppose the change of anode current. This constitutes degenerative feedback and has three principal effects; in promoting stability of sensitivity, promoting linearity, that is, the proportionality of output change to input change, and in reducing gain. By stability of sensitivity is meant the dayto-day constancy of the instrument output cation for a given constant input signal. Stability and linearity are both quite good in such a circuit even without degeneration. The addition of the degeneration improves the circuit to the point where stability and linearity deviations are scarcely measurable.

A switch is provided for short-circuiting'th-e two lower sections of each of the individual cathode resistors so as to changethe amount of degeneration and thereby to change the amount of gain of the stage.

A 5-bank dial switch is provided for changing the amount of individual-resistance in each tube section cathode circuit while maintaining constant the total cathode resistance, including that individual to the section and that common to the two sections in the stage. This switch has six positions and is operated by a shaft, represented by the dashed lines 3|, and a knob 52. One bank 53 of this switch is-associated-with the tube section 2'5, its switch contacts 3 and 5 being connected to the junction 54 of the cathode resistors 32 and 33 and the contact 3 being-connected to the junction 50 of the cathode resistors 35 and 32. The switch contacts I, 2, and 4 are left unconnected. Another bank-51 is connected in a similar manner to the cathoderesistors 36, 31 and 38, at their junctions 58 and 59,-in-the circuit of the tube section 23, and the arms GI and 32 of the switch banks 53 and 51 are connected toether.

When the switch is on contact 2, or 4, all of the individual cathode resistorsare in circuit to produce the maximum degenerative effect and the minimum gain. When-the switch is on contact 3 or 5, however, connection is thereby made between junctions 54 and 50, so that resistors 33 and 38 paralleled are added to the common resistor 23, and only the resistors 31 and 32 remain as cathode resistors individual to the section 21.

Resistors 36 and 31 similarly remain as the only cathode resistors individual to the section '28. When the switch is on contact 6, the connection indiis transferred to connect junction 56 to junction 58, and only the resistors 3| and 33 remain as individual resistors. The gain is then maximum for this stage.

As a specific example, if the resistors 3! and 36 each have 2000 ohms resistance, and the resistor 23 has 470,000 ohms resistance, then with the slider switch arms 3! and 62 placed on switch contact 3, the amount of degeneration is negligible because the resistances of resistors 31 and 33 are negligibly small by comparison with that of resistor 23. The gain of the stage is then approximately 22 db as stated. If the resistors 32 and 31 are of 70,000 ohms resistance each, then with the switch arms on contact 3 or .5 the degeneration is increased so that the gain is approximately 14 /2 db, or 7 /2 db less than before, and the transfer linearity has been improved. If the switch arms be moved to contacts I, 2 or 4, and the resistors 33 and 38 are each of 30,000 ohms, the-degeneration is further increased, reducing the gain by 1 /2 db to 13 db and increasing the linearity still more.

The output of the first stage is taken from the anodes 4i and '12 through conductors 63 and S4, which are directly connected to the control grids B6 and 61, respectively, of the second stage. This stage is composed of the tube sections 68 and 69, coupled-together'by means-of a common cathode resistor l 1. Each tube section has an individual three-section cathode resistor, indicated by the reference numerals l2, 13, it, 16, FL-and l8, and a switch represented by the dial switch banks 13 and 8| which isprovided to switch one, two or three resistor sections into the circuit of each tube section. The anodes 32 and 83 are connected to a source of positive potential through individual resistors 84 and 83. Output is taken from the anodes 82 and 83 through conductors 81 and 38.

The output conductors 81 and 38 are connected through a polarity-reversing switch 89 to a multiscale meter 3! which reads full-scale with current of 300 ma. Six 5000-ohm rheostats 32, 93, 94,

' 36, 9'1 and 38, under control of the fifth switch bank 39, are placed in series with the meter to permit individual scale calibration.

The 5-bank, 6 contact switch permits change of amplifier gain and concurrently of scale indication in six steps, the meter 3! being provided with six scales likewise numbered i to 6. The first contact and step provides the lowest gain and highest meter voltage scale. When the switch is positioned at this step the switch banks 53, 51, i9 and 8! are all in open-circuited condition and the meter-adjusting rheostat 93 is in series with the meter 3|. When the switch is at its 6th position the junctions 50 and 58 are connected together, the junctions HM and 102 are connected together, and the rheostat 32 is in circuit with the meter 01. When the switch is at the other positions designated 2, 3, or 5, the banks are at the corresponding switch contacts so that the gains and scale designations are progressively varied in accordance with the following table of scales.

pH concentration or 1st stage 2nd stage scale NO Input Voltage 101' resistor resistor Full-Scale Indicajunctions junction tion connected connected none none none 103-104 54-59 103-104 none 101-102 54-59 101-102 56-58 101-102 cgcvassno put; conductors 53': and: 64 is nominally zero;

Actually, however: the-difierential output voltage of" the fi'rst stage may differ from zero by such anamount which issufiloi'ent to impose such a potential on. the second stage as isrequired to compensate-for balance the-rein; ln this manner the ne'cessity for any" separate provision of ba l anc'e: adjustm'entlocated with the second stage itself is obviated;

The-switch l'l' i's-then' moved to-Rea'di and the-input terminals land it are short-circuitedi The" potentiometer 2 2 is thenadjusted until the meter again reads" zero.

potential is applied to the grid I 9.

The function of this potentiometer 22 is to balance-out unwanted voltages in the input signal. For instance; preparation: for. ahydrogen ion determination it is desiredto standardize the equipment bythe employement of a standard bufier solution having a pH'ofl 4,,the terminalsl 5 and: 1-6 are; connect'edto a glas electrode and. a calbmel electrode, and these electrodes are immersed. in, the standard solution. The scale switch isplaced' on tap 4 so that full-scale meter reading-is nominally 7.5 pH. Themeter indication will then be, for this solution, about 4 on this scale, andthe voltage divider slider 2! is a justed until the indicationais exactly 4; This operation balances out all asymmetry potentials The grid 19 is then at the ground potential oi the grid it and the differential output l voltage between the out The slider 2 I i then obviously at-a pointccrresponding to'the ground tap Z4 :onthe bridging resistkn 23} so that ground welr understeed the: art, so": astm preserve the in the input circuit so. that, when the unknown solution is substituted for the" standard buffer solution,- the pH thereof Will be indicated by the meterwith exactnessi Ir'the instrument isemployed to measure voltages of ordinary" sources other than solution electrodes; the-potentiometer 22 and the resistor 23-can-ddeomitted entirely and the terminal i6 connected directly to ground.

In each tube section the cathode sets itself approximately 2 /2 volts above the grid potential, this action being automatic and dependent upon the anode supply voltage and anode circuit resistance as is Well known. Since with the type of tube employed this negative grid bias of2 /2 volts is several volts above cutofi, the point of operation is on a relatively straight part of the tube characteristic curve. This grid bias varies only very slightly over the entire range of input voltage of volt, therefore, operation never departs from the straight part of the characteristic curve. It is therefore evident that positive and negative input voltages are amplified with equal facility and accuracy.

In order to permit the use of a direct-current meter as an indicator, such meters being inherently more accurate than alternating-current meters, and at the same time permitting the measurement of input signal of either polarity, the reversing switch 89 is provided to reverse the meter polarity to agree with the polarity of sigals applied to the meter.

It is obvious that all parts of the input circuit from the terminal l5 to the input grid l9 connection terminal should be carefully designed to prevent leakage, employing techinques that are very-high input impedance-otwhicn this instru ment iscapable'; It-is advantageous; for instance; tocover alrinsuratlng partsofthe: input circuit with an insulating grease tareducesurfacecorrductance. A- high input impedance is of 1111 portancebecause the moreitexceeds the signal:

input circuit impedance the greater may the sen 1 sitivity and accuracyci the imminent be made.

What-is claimed is:

1 A multirange vacuum tube voltmeter comprising, at least one amplifying stagc incl tldinga pair" of tube sections each of which includes at least an anode; catliocleand control grid-5 circuit means forapply-ing asignal" t'o-tlie and cathode circuit' of each of said tube sections; a first" series of resistors connected in the cathode circuit of one of' said tube sections; a second series of resistorsconnected inthe cathode circuit of" the other of said tube sections}, the terminals of said first and secondseries ofresistor's" remote from the respective cathodes being connected together and to a terminal of" reference potential", switch contacts connected to thejunctures of the several resistors forming said first'andse'ccnd series of resistors, switch means selectively interconnecting respective-switch con tacts of saidfirst'a-rld second series of resistors to vary the gain of said aznplifier'stage-by varying the amount of regeneration applied then'eiio',- a

meter, and circuitmeansinterconnecting said meter and the arrode clrcuit'g of sa/icl paircf 'tube' sections.

2; A multirange vacuum tube voltmetercom prising, at least oneamplifyingstage including a pair of tube sections each ofwhich includes-at least an anode, cathode and control grid, circuit means for impressing a* signal to be measured between the control electrode of one tube section and ground, the control electrode-ofthe'otlier o'f saidpair of tube sections-being grounded; afirst series of resistors connected the cathode oir cuit of one of said tube sections, a second series of-resistors oonnect'ed'in'the catho'decircuit of 'the other of said tu-b'e sections, the terminalsof said first and second series of resistors remote f'ronr the respective. catho'des beingconnected together andto'= at'erminai f 0F reference potentiaf' with re spect to ground through a common resistor, the junctures between said several resistors constituting said first and second resistors being connected to selected switch contacts, switch means selectively interconnecting respective switch contacts of said first and second series of resistors to vary the gain of said amplifier stage by varying the amount of regeneration applied thereto, a meter, and circuit means interconnecting said meter and the anode circuits of said pair of tube sections.

3. A multirange vacuum tube voltmeter as defined in claim 2 in which the anodes of said tube sections are connected together through a resistor and anode potential is supplied to said tube sections through an adjustable contact on said resistor.

4. A multirange vacuum tube voltmeter comprising, an amplifier containing a pair of amplifier stages each of which includes a pair of tube sections, means for impressing a signal to be measured on the input circuit of oneamplifier stage, each of said tube sections having a plurality of resistors connected in series in their respective cathode circuits, the terminals of said series resistors of each of said pair of tube sections remote from the cathodes thereof being connected together and each interconnected pair of series resistors being connected to a source of reference potential as respects ground through resistors individual to each pair, switch means for each of said amplifier stages for bridging corresponding terminals of the series resistors of each pair of tube sections, the anodes of the tube sections of said one amplifier stage being connected to the control electrodes of the tube sections of the other amplifier stage, and an indicator connected to the anode circuits of the other amplifier stage.

5. A multirange vacuum tube voltmeter as defined in claim 4 in which the anodes of said tube sections forming said one amplifier stage are connected together through a resistor and anode potential is supplied to said tube sections through an adjustable contact on said resistor.

6. A multirange vacuum tube voltmeter comprising, a first amplifying stage including a air of tube sections, each of said tube sections having a plurality of resistors individual thereto connected in series in their respective cathode circuits, the terminal of each of said series resistors remote from the respective cathodes being connected to a source of reference potential through a common resistor, switch means for bridging corresponding terminals on said series resistors, an input circuit having one terminal grounded and a second terminal connected to the control electrode of one of said tube sections, the control grid of the other of said tube sections being connected to ground, a second ampliiying stage including a second pair of tube sections, each of said second pair of tube sections having a plurality of resistors individual thereto connected in series in their respective cathode circuits, the terminals of each of said last named series resistors remote from the respective cathodes being connected to a source of reference potential as respects ground through a common resistor, switch means for bridging corresponding terminals of said last mentioned series resistors, said first and second mentioned switch means being actuated by a common control means operative to vary the relative terminals bridged in said first and second amplifier stages, circuit means connecting respective anode circuits said tube sections of said first amplifier stage with respective control electrode of said tube sections of said second amplifier stage, and an indicator connected between the anodes of the tube sections of said second amplifier stage.

7. A multirange vacuum tube voltmeter as defined in claim 6 in which the anodes of the tube sections of said first amplifier stage are connected together through a resistor and anode potential is supplied to said tube sections through an adjustable contact of said resistor.

8. A multirange vacuum tube voltmeter comprising, an amplifier stage including a pair of tube sections, means for impressing an input signal thereon, resistive means in the cathode circuit of each of said tube sections forming individual degenerative feedback circuits therefor, a common cathode circuit for said tube sections connected in series with said individual degenerative feedback circuits, means for transferring selected amounts of the resistive means of each of said individual degenerative feedback circuits to said common cathode circuit, and indicator means coupled to the output of said amplifier stage.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,212,337 Brewer Aug. 20, 1940 2,273,432 Brewer Feb. 17, 1942 2,369,066 Maxwell Feb. 6, 1945 2,443,864 MacAuley June 22, 1948 2,523,240 Vackar Sept. 9, 1950 2,538,539 Stokes Jan. 16, 1951 2,561,597 Rogers July 24, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 112,068 Australia Dec. 19, 1940 OTHER REFERENCES PublicationRadio-Electronics, pp. 30-32, vol. XXII, Issue 12, pub. date September 1951. In Class 171-95-7.

Publication-Electronics, pp. 127-429, February 1945, In Class 171-95-22. 

